Minnesotans shine in Hockey Day win over Lightning

St. Paul, Minn. — The twelfth Hockey Day Minnesota ended at Xcel Energy Center with a 5-2 Wild win over the Tampa Bay Lighting with all four of the team’s Minnesota native skaters getting points.

Nate Prosser’s goal in the second period ended up as his second Hockey Day Minnesota game winner, and Kyle Rau earned a secondary assist on the play during his debut with the Wild.

“Nate loves Hockey Day Minnesota, he’s a point a game player on Hockey Day,” Zach Parise said. “I think you see the excitement from the rest of the team when he scores, and that says it all. He’s very well liked guy on our team, great person, and you want to see guys like that do well.”

Prosser got the crowd going early in the game when he stepped up to scrap with the Lightning’s Ryan Callahan following a hit on Tyler Ennis in the neutral zone. It was a play his coach though the team appreciated, got the crowd even more amped up, and kept the team’s adrenaline going.

Parise was the first of the Minnesota natives to get on the board, tallying his first goal of the season late in the second period by getting a stick on a Ryan Suter shot. Parise said his conditioning and energy has been fine since coming back to the lineup, but tonight was the best he felt handling the puck.

Matt Cullen was the fourth Minnesotan on the scoresheet tonight, when he got his 700th point assisting on Marcus Foligno’s third period goal.

The win came off of a bye week for the Wild and it was a night where they seemed to have the most energy despite an NHL trend of teams struggling their first game back.

“Yesterday’s practice, everyone was upbeat, probably the loudest practice as far as guys being talkative, and the same with morning skate today,” Bruce Boudreau said. “It would have been a crime if they didn’t come out with same energy they did the last two days.”

Rau wasn’t one of the players coming in off a bye, but off of a call-up from Iowa and contributed a simple, smart, intelligent and fast game with the big club. The former Gopher was so excited to play in his sixth Hockey Day Minnesota that he couldn’t settle in for his pre-game nap.

Rau didn’t see much ice in the first period as he settled into the speed of the game with a couple wall battles on the breakout early, but saw a regular shift during the second on a line with Charlie Coyle and Joel Eriksson Ek. Boudreau liked the line and thought Rau stepped in, didn’t look out of place and his speed and intelligence really wore off. The coach didn’t have any special messages for him other than asking how many tickets did he have to buy.

Rau had a bunch of high school buddies in the rink for the game that saw him get 6:56 of ice time, two shots, one assist and ending up plus one for the night.

“Good play by Rauser, he played well tonight,” Prosser said. “It’s just cool that this Hockey Day thing has become such a big deal, all the guys kind of yelling about, Minnesota guys money on the board, stuff like that, we all got up there, big win.”

Prosser said he told Rau to just play his game, make plays and skate.

“When your feet are moving, the rest of your game usually follows and he was skating well,” Prosser said.

Rau became the 24th Minnesotan to play for the Wild during the franchise’s history, his brother Chad Rau is one of the others, and they’re the first pair of brothers to play a game for the Wild. Chad’s debut was on Hockey Day Minnesota 2012, when he scored the game winning goal. The Gopher Hockey alum also became the 21st player from the University of Minnesota to play in the NHL this season, tying Michigan for the most in college hockey.

“I think this is my sixth [Hockey Day Minnesota], so it’s kind of cool to be able to say that,” Rau said. “Then to be able to contribute on the scoresheet obviously that’s something that you want to do.”

The post Locals Lead Wild To Win appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Rivalry games raise excitement, expectations, and when it comes to Minnesota college hockey, bragging rights for best program in the state of hockey. The University of Minnesota is riding a streak of five regular season conference titles, but after getting swept by St. Cloud State in October, the Gophers also are riding a streak of losses to in-state schools.

The Gophers led both nights against the Huskies during the latest rivalry series, but St. Cloud State rallied for a series sweep, handing Minnesota their 14th loss in their last 15 games against in-state rivals. The only Gopher victory in that span was a 4-0 win over Minnesota State on Nov. 13, 2015.

“I want to believe it has nothing to do with the in-state games or anything, we can’t finish,” Leon Bristedt said. “It’s all about executing; it’s all about finishing and winning games. Unfortunately, we haven’t found a way of really doing that with in-state rivalries, but we can only look forward to new games coming up. We can look back and learn, but what’s happened, it’s in the past.”

The past is hard to ignore with this group.

Minnesota has sustained six of their 14 losses in the third period. The 2016 North Star College Cup saw the Gophers take a 2-1 lead against Bemidji State and lose 4-2, and the next day tie Minnesota State in the third period only to lose in overtime. Minnesota played the Huskies close in their Nov. 27, 2015 series opener, but gave up two late goals to lose 3-2 and then lost a turnover filled affair 7-4 in the second game of the series. The Gophers also took a 2-0 lead on Minnesota State Nov. 14, 2015 only to give up two goals in the third period and lose in overtime 3-2.

“It’s not like we take these games easier, or lighter than other games, we have these marked on our calendar as I assume they do too,” Justin Kloos said after North Star Cup last year. “But for some reason we’ve just came up short of the last almost year and a half now.”

Photo by Brent Cizek for Minnesota Hockey Magazine

The recipe for disappointment in many of the in-state games has been turnovers and poor special teams. In-state schools have outshot the Gophers 507-425 in this stretch and only twice did Minnesota have a shots-on-goal advantage. The power play scored on 10 of 50 chances during this stretch, but their penalty kill allowed 23 goals on 68 opportunities—killing penalties at just 64 percent.

Steve Johnson admitted that the recent record against in-state team is in their heads.

“Minnesota should be the best, it’s unacceptable. We’ve got to learn to play our game, get pucks deep, go to work, and play the game the right way” Johnson said.

Gopher coach Don Lucia decided after the Huskies series that he would have to change the way they practice to change the way Minnesota performs in these rivalry games.

“That’s obviously been a focus, and we talked to guys that we just have to change the way we practice,” Lucia said. “We have to be better along the walls, we have to be better below the circles on each end of the rink. We’re not getting enough in-zone offensive time for possession.”

The emphasis was more five-on-five drills and small area drills in practice to change the mindset so players realize if they lose the puck, they’ve got to work to get it back.

“The practices here have been way harder, not as much skating, but way more battling. Some guys have been almost on the edge of fighting, and I think that’s how practices should be,” Bristedt said. “Looking back at practice before we’ve done a lot of rushes and things, and you can see that’s where we score our goals off the rush and on the power play, but I think working down low and battling more is the recipe for winning more games.”

Minnesota will get a chance against Minnesota State Nov. 18 and 19 for a home and home series, and then against Minnesota Duluth and either Bemidji State or St. Cloud State in the North Star College Cup Jan. 27 and 28 for a chance to redeem themselves.

“I don’t feel any different when it comes to pressure. I notice the attention, I notice like, ‘Hey that this is a bigger game’ but as a player this is something you love and you want to be out there in these kind of games,” Bristedt said.

“I think we’ve been passive a couple times and that’s where we get caught. If we can stay on the hunt, if we can act instead of react, I think that’s where we’re going to have success.”

Story originally published in the November, 2016 issue of our digital magazine. For more stories like this, click HERE to view the November issue and subscribe to have future issues delivered directly to your email inbox. 

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Motzko stirred, not shaken, by questions surrounding Huskies

St. Cloud State
Coach: Bob Motzko (St. Cloud State ‘87), 11th Season 235-164-42 with the Huskies
2015-16: 31-9-1 Overall (17-6-1 Conference), Lost in NCAA West Regional Final
Picked by media to finish 4th in NCHC

Key Returning Players: Mikey Eyssimont, So. F (14-19), Jimmy Schuldt, So. D (10-16), Will Borgen, So. D (1-13), Ben Storm Sr. F (2-5), Nate Widman, Jr. D (1-10).
Key Newcomers: Ryan Poehling Fr. F, Jack Ahcan, Fr. D, Dennis Cholowski, Fr. D.

St. Cloud State advanced to the NCAA tournament for a fourth consecutive season in 2015-16, but to get back they’ll have to adjust to a new cycle of players fast.

“Everyone always tells me how many guys we lost, and what kind of scorers we lost, but we’ve got plenty of guys who can replace those guys,” Jimmy Schuldt said. “We’ve got two really good defensemen coming in, two really good goalies coming, and I think depth is our strength this year.”

The Huskies expected to lose Ethan Prow, Kalle Kossila, Joey Benik, Jimmy Murray, and David Morley to graduation. They even begrudgingly accepted that their number one goaltender, Charlie Lindgren, was going to move on after his junior season. However, Patrick Russell left after scoring 20 goals, and 21 assists during his sophomore season to sign an entry level deal with the Edmonton Oilers. His early departure meant that Motzko was going to have to replace his entire top six scorers and his number one goaltender for 2016-17.

Last year coach Bob Motzko said he knew his power play before they even suited up, and knew who our number one goalie was when he started planning for the season. The challenge this year is to figure out where all the pieces fit and he’s excited about the opportunity to coach again and the test to figure it out.

St. Cloud State has some incoming talent like defenseman Dennis Cholowski, drafted 20th overall in the NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings, the highest ever selection for a Huskies player or commit. They also have Jack Ahcan coming in after being named the USHL Defenseman of the Year last season. And then Ryan Poehling accelerated his high school studies to join St. Cloud State and his brothers a year earlier than anticipated. Ryan Poehling’s 2017 NHL Draft future also looks favorable after getting one of the 29 A ratings assigned by the NHL Central Scouting.

The picture in goal isn’t so clear. Motzko looks for athletes with great character, a track record of being successful, and thinks they have three guys who fit that bill, but the only thing they don’t have is a lot of minutes played in college hockey and they’re going to give them that opportunity.

The candidates include returning sophomore 22-year-old 5’11” David Zevnik, who played at St. Thomas Academy, and joined the Huskies as a recruited walk-on after two years with the Wichita Falls in the NAHL. The new goalies are 21-year-old 6’2” Jeff Smith, a transfer from UMass-Lowell who played three years with Powell River in the BCHL, and 19-year-old 6’0” Zach Driscoll who played at Eastview HS, Austin in the NAHL, Omaha in the USHL, and Penticton in the BCHL. All three goalies played a period in the St. Cloud State exhibition game against Regina.

“We just went through nine years of outstanding goaltending, from Mike Lee to Ryan Faragher to Charlie Lindgren, and that’s a pretty good run–we just got to make sure it’s a fourth run,” Motzko said.

“We’re a young hockey team with a new goaltender, I think we can score goals so that gives us a chance. Now can we keep it out of our net to give us a better chance.”

The post St. Cloud State Season Preview appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Hastings to lean on seniors to lead big rookie class

Minnesota State
Coach: Mike Hastings (St. Cloud State ‘93), 4th Season 100-49-14 with the Mavericks
2015-16: 21-13-7 Overall (16-5-7 Conference)
Picked by media and coaches to finish 3rd in WCHA

Key Returning Players: C.J. Franklin, Jr. F (14-11), Michael Huntebrinker, Sr. F (7-12), Zach Stepan, Sr. F (6-7), Carter Foguth, Sr. D (1-6), Sean Flanagan, Sr. D (2-9), Daniel Brickley, So. D (2-9), and Cole Huggins, Sr. G (.917 Sv%-1.84 GAA).
Key Newcomers: Parker Tuomie, Fr. F., Marc Michaelis, Fr. F.

The Mavericks are defending back-to-back MacNaughton Cups at Verizon Wireless Center this season, but the departures of Teddy Blueger, Bryce Gervais, and Casey Nelson left big gaps in the line-up card for fifth-year coach Mike Hastings.

“Our group of six seniors are going to be very important in how we start our WCHA play,” Hastings said. The coach also recruited an older class among his eight new Mavericks because he needs them to come in and play a little bit older than freshman especially with a schedule that features an October slate of Michigan Tech, St. Cloud State, at Alaska, and Ferris State.

Parker Tuomie is the biggest name among recruits joining the stable. Tuomie scored 54 points (30-24) for the Sioux Falls Stampede in the USHL last season and was the coaches’ choice for preseason rookie of the year.

“I see Parker has got some respect throughout the league,” Hastings said. “Hopefully he can take that and prove what he can do on a night in and night out basis.”

Defensively, Minnesota State will be counting on Carter Foguth, Sean Flanagan, and Daniel Brickley to combine and offensively production Casey Nelson took to the Buffalo Sabres.

Between the pipes, senior Cole Huggins is going to be counted upon to steady the herd. Hastings said the goalie has had some great support in front of him and competing with him for playing time, but this year the team will be looking to the crease for support.

The post Minnesota State Season Preview appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Bulldogs gearing up to take the next step

Minnesota Duluth
Coach: Scott Sandelin (North Dakota ‘86), 16th Season 287-277-75
2015-16: 19-16-5 Overall (11-10-3 Conference), Lost in NCAA Northeast Regional Final
Picked by media to finish 3rd in NCHC

Key Returning Players: Alex Iafallo, Sr. F (8-15), Dominic Toninato, Sr. F (15-6), Karson Kuhlman, Jr. F (12-8), Neal Pionk, So. D (4-13), Willie Raskob Sr. D (2-11), Carson Soucy, Sr. D (3-9),
Key Newcomers: Avery Peterson Jr. F, Riley Tufte, Fr. F, Joey Anderson, Fr. F, Hunter Miska, Fr. G.

Minnesota Duluth has seven seniors and six juniors who have experience playing in NCAA Regionals. They also have 13 upperclassmen with the experience of coming up just short of advancing past a regional final.

“The last two years we’re one goal away from tying the game in the final minute,” Dominic Toninato said. “Obviously we got to get there again, but I think the goal is to get over that hump and make the Frozen Four.”

Toninato decided to pass on offers from Toronto to play professional hockey in 2016-17 and take one more trip with his hometown dogs for another chance at a Frozen Four. Toninato leads a talented group of forwards that got deeper with the addition of Riley Tufte, the 25th overall pick by the Dallas Stars, and Joey Anderson, the 73rd overall pick by the New Jersey Devils. Coach Scott Sandelin said his highly touted freshman will eventually be impact players, but he has the luxury of having plenty of veterans players that he can count for production early.

“When Cam and Farley came in, we needed them to be good and they were,” Sandelin said of the departed Tony Cameranesi and Austin Farley. “But with these two, we don’t have to do that. I’d like to see them be more hungry, earn it, and frankly I’d like to give some older guys a chance.”

Sandelin says the depth of teams the Bulldogs’ opponents means his top players can’t take shifts off, his top players can’t have nights off, and he knows with freshmen there are going to be inconsistencies to their game. The coach expects to lean on Toninato, Alex Iafallo, Karson Kuhlman early and give Adam Johnson, Kyle Osterberg, and Jared Thomas more chances to contribute.

The biggest question mark coming into the season was how to replace Kasimir Kaskisuo who posted a .923 Sv% and 1.92 and left after his sophomore season to sign as an undrafted free agent with Toronto. Sandelin had never gone into a season where he had zero goalies without any previous college experience in goal. At the NCHC media day, the coach coach was coy with wh was ahead of who, but said he recruited Hunter Miska for a reason. Miska came into the season with five years of junior hockey experience, was named the 2015-16 USA Hockey Goalie of the Year, and after two wins against Michigan Tech appears to be the replacement for Kaskisuo.

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Gophers eager to put disappointing season behind them

Minnesota
Coach: Don Lucia (Notre Dame ‘87), 17th Season 415-219-68 with Gophers
2015-16: 20-17-0 Overall (14-6-0 Conference)
Picked by coaches to finish 1st in Big Ten

Key Returning Players: Justin Kloos, Sr. F (16-27), Leon Bristedt, Jr. F (20-17), Tyler Sheehy, So. F (12-18), Jake Bischoff, Sr. D (6-12), Eric Schierhorn, So. G (90.2 Sv%-2.67 GAA).
Key Newcomers: Mike Szmatula, Jr. F, Rem Pitlick, Fr. F, Ryan Lindgren, Fr. D, Ryan Zuhlsdorf, Fr. D.

Minnesota won its fifth consecutive regular season conference title last season, but missing out on the NCAA tournament for the first time in those five seasons made earning a banner feel hollow.

“I think it’s going to be a team that will play for one goal, with not a lot of outside influences as far as other things going,” captain Justin Kloos said. “I think this will be a focused group, because last year was unacceptable.”

The team lost Hudson Fasching, Michael Brodzinski, and Nick Seeler to professional contracts, but will have veteran players and most spots in the lineup.

Up front, two new options will start the season in the top nine. Junior transfer wing Mike Szmatula will start the season playing on a line with Kloos and Taylor Cammarata. Szmatula was a point per game player in Hockey East for two seasons, and coach Don Lucia expects him to transition seamlessly into the lineup. The other new player to the line-up, Rem Pitlick, decided late to join the Gophers for 2016-17 and will likely play with Leon Bristedt and Vinni Lettieri. The forward was drafted 76th overall by Nashville in the NHL Entry Draft and decided to join Minnesota after playing in a Predators Development Camp and World Junior Evaluation Camp.

“Obviously Rem deciding to come was big … you see his skill on the ice right away, he’s going to really elevate the skill level of our team,” Lucia said. “I think you’ll see him have a big year.”

The other ‘top nine’ line will start with redshirt senior Connor Reilly playing with sophomores Tyler Sheehy and Tom Novak. Reilly is finally healthy coming into a season after recovering from three seasons limited by injuries. Reilly feels this is the first time in three years that his brain and body are working together, and now that his knee feels good, his hands and shot feel good again.

Defensively Jake Bischoff returns to lead a blue line of mobile defensemen who all can play the game Associate Head Coach Mike Guentzel demands. He’ll be pushed by returning players and freshmen Ryan Lindgren and Ryan Zuhlsdorf will get early opportunities as Jack Glover returns from offseason shoulder surgery.

Eric Schierhorn returns as the 2015-16 Big Ten Goaltender of the Year who led all NCAA freshman with 20 wins between the pipes. Schierhorn worked on his lateral quickness and flexibility during strength and conditioning, and expects to play a more upright technique this year.

The Gophers open play in Alaska and then face a difficult non-conference schedule against numerous ranked teams including a series against No. 1 North Dakota, a road game against No. 5 Boston College, a home and home against No. 7 St. Cloud State, a road game against No. 15 Northeastern, a road game against No. 16 St. Lawrence, a home and home against No. 19 Minnesota State. Minnesota also will face No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth in the opening game of the North Star College Cup.

The post Minnesota Season Preview appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Beavers’ young blue line to receive early test

Bemidji State
Coach: Tom Serratore (Bemidji State ‘87), 15th Season 244-240-67 with Beavers
2015-16: 17-16-6 Overall (11-12-5 Conference)
Picked by media and coaches to finish 6th in WCHA

Key Returning Players: Brendan Harms, Jr. F (8-17), Gerry Fitzgerald, Jr. F (14-11), Kyle Bauman, Jr. F (7-13), and Michael Bitzer, Jr. G (.915 Sv%-2.16 GAA).
Key Newcomers: Adam Brady, Fr. F, Hampus Sjödahl, Fr. F, Tommy Muck, Fr. D and Zach Whitecloud, Fr. D.

Tom Serratore is going to find out what kind of team he has early in 2016-17, as the Beavers face the WCHA media and coaches’ poll favorite Bowling Green the opening week of the season and then the consensus fifth ranked team Northern Michigan in the second weekend.

“This is the first time we’ve started with conference games, and you feel like you need to do more and get more things in,” said Serratore. “But you just can’t. The bottom line is the players have to play and you have to put the ownership on the players.”

Bemidji State returns the majority of a team that finished sixth in the conference last season, but Serratore notes the departed not only scored goals for the Beavers, but set the pace in practice and off the ice. The team will count on their undersized, but speedy forwards spread out over two or three lines for scoring.

The steadiest piece calling the Sanford Center home this year will be goalie Michael Bitzer. Serratore says the junior has been their rock the last two years, and there isn’t any question he’ll be again this season.

“He’s not only a good goaltender, but he’s got a great mentality, his work ethic, his approach to the game, his athleticism,” Serratore said. “He’s been a winner his whole life.”

A big question mark for the team will be the play of their young and inexperienced defensive corps as they integrate six underclassmen into their lineup. Serratore says they’re farther along than they were a month ago, and that Muck and Whitecloud look like veterans ready to step in and play.

Serratore expects the conference to be very tight from the opening weekend of conference play all the way to March as the league moves towards its new on-campus post-season tournament. Finishing in the top four gets home ice for a quarterfinal best-of-three series, leading to the top two remaining seeds hosting best-of-three semifinals, and then a single game championship at the highest remaining seed home rink.

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Mike Guentzel nearing two decades of forging NHL defensemen

Northern Minnesota’s Mesabi Range was not on anyone’s radar during negotiations determining the demarcation between the United States and Canada. The land could just have easily ended up as part of Ontario instead of Minnesota, but the arrowhead was allocated to the USA and ended up producing over 3 billion tons of iron ore. That stroke of fortune sparked a mining boom and families took root as Minnesotans in Duluth, Grand Rapids, Hibbing, Two Harbors, Eveleth, Virginia, Colerain, and Marble.

Many of these Minnesotans endured their Iron Range winters by playing hockey, and for one hockey player from Marble, it sparked the opportunity to wear the ‘M’ playing college hockey at the University of Minnesota.

“I’m a Northern Minnesota kid who graduated in 1981 from high school and there were two Division I programs in Minnesota,” said Mike Guentzel. “I’d never seen a Gopher game, but I wanted to play for the Gophers.”

Fellow Iron Ranger Alex Goligoski of the Dallas Stars benefited from Guentzel’s training from 2004-2007. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

Guentzel was a three-sport athlete who made his mark at Greenway-Coleraine High School playing quarterback for the football team, as a first-team all-state defenseman for the hockey team, and on three baseball teams that finished third in the state tournament. The Iron Range’s second-leading scorer in 1981 was selected in the seventh round by the New York Rangers in the NHL Draft and then headed to Minneapolis to play for Brad Buetow that fall.

The adjustment to college hockey wasn’t an easy one for Guentzel, who scored 43 high-school goals, as he didn’t see the ice for the first 20 games of his freshman season.

“It was everybody from my high school coach, to my parents, to the coaching staff, to whoever else. It was their fault I wasn’t playing,” Guentzel said. “And realistically after a while, I realized it was my fault. I’m not prepared for this. I’m not ready for this. I have to make adjustments in my game.”

The freshman learned that season the benefit of finding a ‘B’ game and attached himself to roles less glamorous than quarterbacking the power play. Focusing on defending, penalty killing, shot blocking, and complementing his defensive partner’s game became his emphasis and allowed him to develop from there.

Guentzel persevered through the crucible of his first season, eventually captained the Gophers in 1984-85, and graduated with his degree in business and human relations. He had brief professional stints in the IHL with the Salt Lake City Golden Eagles and in the AHL with the New Haven Night Hawks, but knew he wanted to coach more than play professional hockey.

Guentzel spent six seasons coaching in the USHL and landed back at Minnesota as an assistant with head coach Doug Woog and coaching Mike Crowley in 1994. Starting the next season the Gophers went on a run of 12 consecutive NCAA appearances, and each team featured puck moving defensemen who could skate, flash stick skill, and get involved in the rush.

Minnesota Land of 50,000 Hockey Players

Last winter, Minnesota USA Hockey Registrations hit 55,450 with over 7,000 bantams actively playing association hockey. Recruiting season starts earlier every year as college coaches work to identify the 100 Minnesota players from each age group that will eventually earn spots on a Division I hockey roster.

Guentzel certainly has a good idea about what it takes, his three sons all earned opportunities to play Division I hockey. Ryan Guentzel was a forward for Notre Dame, Gabe Guentzel a defensemen at Colorado College and Jake Guentzel played forward for Nebraska-Omaha. He also knows what it takes because the University of Minnesota has had nine players represent them in the NHL this season. The nine Gopher defensemen (Paul Martin SJS, Nate Schmidt WSH, Alex Goligoski DAL, Seth Helgeson NJD, Erik Johnson COL, Nick Leddy NYI, Aaron Ness WSH, Mike Reilly MIN, and Brady Skjei NYR) is the most among all NCAA hockey programs this season.

“Our youth coaches put kids who have good ability on the back end,” Guentzel said. “Historically I think we’ve done a better job in our state of developing elite skating, puck-moving defensmen, than we have goal scoring true bona fide forwards. We’ve always embraced a style of puck movers, mobile defense, active defense on the rush. It kind of goes hand in hand with the way we want to play.”

While Paul Martin didn’t start getting recruiting letters until his sophomore year of high school, most elite talents these days are getting recruited and committing as bantam hockey players. Guentzel likes to get as many looks at these young players in competitive situations as he can, whether it’s USA Hockey Festivals or State Bantam Championships to see how players defend, and take pressure against a forecheck. Gopher assistant coach Grant Potulny is also on the road a lot ‘fox scoping’ players for the staff, looking for agility in their foot speed, how they turn, and stick skill.

Washington Capitals D Nate Schmidt blossomed under Guentzel between 2010 and 2013. (Minnesota Wild / Bruce Kluckhohn)

“For whatever reason Minnesota develops a lot of defensemen, so you have a big pool,” Potulny said. “Now you get a chance to work some of the guys at the top of that pool and Mike does a really good job with them.”

Guentzel had his eye on Nate Schmidt during his sophomore season at St. Cloud Cathedral, and Guentzel was the main recruiter for Schmidt.

“I wasn’t the biggest U of M fan growing up, I can say that now, my family had season tickets to Husky games…” Schmidt said. “But one of the coolest things he did was he slid a piece of paper across from me after we got done talking about what his plan was for me. The piece of paper had all the guys names on that he had ever coached, whether they were playing or not, wherever they were. Here are all the guys that have made it, here are the guys that are playing pro at some level, and here’s the guys that didn’t make it, but are out doing other things.”

That moment was huge for Nate deciding his future, but like most recruits, he had no idea exactly what he was in for.

Steel Sharpens Steel

While iron ore is the raw resource extracted from Iron Range, it is brittle until forged into steel. And it isn’t steel until after it’s mixed with cooked coal, limestone and blasted with temperatures up to 1600 degrees. Defensemen don’t get blasted with quite the same temperatures at the University of Minnesota, but the pressure of playing the blue line at Mariucci Arena is still intense.

“We allow our defensemen to be very active from an offensive standpoint, that’s the expectation,” Gophers head coach Don Lucia said. “And Coach Guentzel, I don’t think there’s a better coach as far as developing the defensemen than what he does. He’s very demanding, he pushes the guys, whether it’s video or practice–he’s very honest and blunt with them. I think they respect that. He pushes them to be the best they can be.”

Guentzel knows that every time players jump a level it’s a step, and no one can tell how many games it will take for players to adjust to the speed, quickness, and strength. He just knows it will take time–especially in the modern game putting more emphasis into structure, defense and goaltending than ever before.

Current Gopher Jake Bischoff says his position coach is huge on the details that might go unnoticed, but making sure to shoulder check on retrievals to find your wingers, and taking quick strides after getting the puck to see your options are big points of emphasis.

“Every little detail in practice he’s on you about it, and if you don’t do it, you’ll hear from him,” Bischoff said. “I think then when it comes to game time, it’s automatic, you do all that kind of stuff. It definitely makes it easier out there.”

And practice isn’t the only place Guentzel lets his players know how they’re doing.

“Video Sessions… I remember those quite well actually,” said Schmidt.

Guentzel tutored the Minnesota Wild’s Mike Reilly from 2013-2015. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Mike Reilly said the defensemen gather for position video review weekly for about half-hour to 45-minutes, just after practice early on in the week. Reilly specifically remembers coming into the session after what he felt was a pretty good weekend and then popping up on the screen five or six plays, the most out of any other d-man for miscues.

“He came in, just wanted more of me, and demanded more, Reilly said. That’s how he is and how he goes about his business. He’s really good communication-wise, he’ll let you know if you’re playing well or not. He’s not going to go around the corner to try to BS something about you, why you wouldn’t be playing. He’s going to tell you straight up.”

Research and Facilities

After World War II, the high grade ore in Minnesota was nearly gone and it looked like lean times ahead for the Iron Range. However, University of Minnesota professor Edward Davis had been researching a way to make taconite pellets out of waste rock. His research rejuvenated mining in Minnesota and gave the economy another boost through the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

The Minnesota hockey program has relied on boosts for their program as well. The move across the street from old Mariucci Arena to new Mariucci Arena in 1993 expanded the seating capacity from 7,000 to 10,000. The move also put the Pride on Ice on a 200’ x 100’ Olympic Ice sheet. The ‘big ice’ has drawn the ire of more than one NHL scout because its extra size compared to the 85’ wide NHL rink changes the evaluation process.

“In my opinion you have the puck more on your stick, you can make more decisions, you have a better chance to skate, you have a better chance to be more involved in the offense, and you have to learn to take away time and space on a [bigger] rink,” Guentzel said.

Even with the extra time and space, it takes some players a while to realize the difference and when they finally do it’s a game changer for them.

“I never really realized how much time I had until I was almost gone,” Schmidt said. Until about my junior year of Christmas I finally realized if you beat the first forechecker and get the net, the rink is so big it’s hard for the next layer to get to you. Now, if you do that on the smaller rinks, it actually draws the second guy away from his check. And if you can draw another guy away and make a play, that just opens up a lot more space for somebody else.”

The next boost for Gopher Hockey will be a renovation to their locker room, team areas, and training facilities at Mariucci Arena. The process starts April 11, nearly $5 million of donated funds will be invested into the effort, and the team’s strength and conditioning coach Cal Dietz is excited about all the new toys coming.

“We’ll have equipment coming from all over the world, scientific equipment, to make this the best facility that I’ve ever known,” Dietz said. “There won’t be another facility like it, and it will be 10 years ahead of anybody else who builds anything.”

Dietz is well respected by the coaching staff as a major factor in developing athletes and he utilizes data from blood tests, gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometer, and brain waves to help maximize performance. The data he gathers helps him develop the measurable athletic ability of the players and provides feedback to the coaching staff on the proper training load. Schmidt said that Dietz is so well respected in NHL circles that when the Washington Capitals training staff learned he was going to be working out with Dietz over the summer, they said it’d be okay if he didn’t use the program they gave him.

“College hockey is a man’s game, everyone out here is big and strong, and so working with Cal is really nice,” Michael Brodzinski said. “We get two or three times a week in the weight room with him during the season, and I think it’s really paid off getting us faster and stronger.”

Mr. Gopher

Paul Martin honed his skills under Guentzel and won two national titles while a Gopher from 2000 to 2003. (Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports)

While Guentzel takes a lot of pride in the program, he did step away for a three-year period from 2008 to 2011 spending a year as an assistant at Colorado College, a year as a head coach in the USHL for Des Moines, and then a year as an assistant at Nebraska-Omaha. At the time he told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, ”it was a time and place where maybe he should step away.“

Then in 2011, the two Iron Rangers came to an understanding.

“We’ve worked together a long time,” Lucia said. He’s kind of Mr. Gopher around here, and nobody has more passion and bleeds it more than he does. That was one of the things when I came, I wanted him to stay and with him coming back, just the confidence in him, and his ability and what he means to the program.

“Since Mike has been around with program, before me and with me, there’s been a whole lot of winning going on.”

The players are also grateful to have worked with a coach that just finished his 19th season at the University.

“He wants the program to do well as well as the players they bring in,” Martin said. “He teaches you the right way to carry yourself and how to play hard. He’ll yell at you, but at the same time then he’ll tell you what you need to work on and work with your game, he’ll stay after. He has high expectations, which he should when you come into that program it has a lot of history and tradition that you need to uphold.“

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Minneapolis — Hudson Fasching’s overtime one-timer propelled Minnesota to a 3-2 win over Michigan and kept the Gophers ahead of the Wolverines in the Big Ten Standings. Minnesota (12-4-0-0, 17-14-0) had a one point lead over Michigan (10-3-3-2, 20-5-5) in the conference coming into the weekend and the series split maintained their lead.

“Just like when we were in Ann Arbor, the goal was to stay ahead of Michigan at the end of the weekend,” said Minnesota Coach Don Lucia. “They’re a good team, there’s no question. There’s a reason they’ve lost two overtime games the second half of the season, they’re dangerous, and we had to play a complete game.”

Michigan comes out of the weekend still behind the Gophers by a point in the standings and will need help from the Spartans and Badgers. They finish the season with two series against a swift skating fifth place Ohio State (4-8-3-1, 9-17-3) for a home and home series, and then a offensively focused third place Penn State (9-6-1-1, 19-9-4) squad at Yost Arena for two games.

“We like where we are, we wanted to get more than a split when we came here,” said Michigan Coach Red Berenson. “I think Minnesota is probably pretty happy with a split right now. We’ve got to take advantage of our remaining games and see what happens.”

Penn State still has an outside chance to get into the top two of the conference with 29 points, six behind Michigan and seven behind Minnesota, and get a bye for the first night of the Big Ten Tournament at Xcel Energy Center. The Nittany Lions have their series left at Michigan, but also have to travel to Madison.

The Gophers control their destiny as they seek a third consecutive Big Ten regular season title and fifth consecutive conference title. Minnesota has the easier road remaining in the Big Ten with a road trip to face fourth pace Michigan State (5-10-1-0, 9-20-3) and then finishing their regular season with sixth place Wisconsin (1-10-4-2, 6-15-8) at Mariucci Arena.

“There’s no question if we want to try and defend the crown we had to win today,” said Lucia. “There’s no way you’re going to fall back four points with four games to go and think you’re going to have a chance to win.”

Minnesota fell to No. 18 in the PairWise Rankings after the loss Friday night, but the split pushed them back to #16 in the ranking determining at-large bids for the NCAA Tournament. The teams ahead of Minnesota, include No. 12 Nebraska-Omaha, No.13 Massachusetts-Lowell, No. 14 Penn State, and No. 5 Cornell.

The Gophers can secure a post-season automatic bid by winning the Big Ten Tournament, but the win on Saturday kept their chance of an at-large bid alive. Although for Minnesota to get an at-large bid they’ll need help from the teams ahead of them.

Nebraska-Omaha is fourth in the NCHC, but has a brutal finish with North Dakota and a trip to Denver. Massachusetts-Lowell is fourth in Hockey East, but finishes their regular season with Boston College. Cornell is seventh in the ECAC, plays Union and Rensselaer before their conference tournament. Miami is sixth in the NCHC and plays Colorado College and at University of Minnesota-Duluth to enits regular season.

The post Back on Top appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Four problems facing Minnesota’s Don Lucia

High expectations are the norm at Mariucci Arena. Minnesota has raised four straight conference title banners, earned four straight bids to the NCAA tournament, and led the nation in total wins over the last four seasons. Coach Don Lucia has 674 wins over his 29-year career, but he’s still looking for his first one of 2015-16.

Growing pains have become a buzzword for the coach and players as they’ve forced 10 new players into a lineup that has fallen to Vermont (0-3) and were swept by Minnesota Duluth (1-3, 0-3). Lucia expected it might take some time to get his young players up to speed, but he didn’t expect to be winless headed into their third weekend.

The coach says his team has practiced better than they’ve played in games, but here are four things they need to solve to earn a W.

Clean Breakouts

Minnesota lost two key puck moving defensemen to professional contracts after last season. Mike Reilly signed with the Minnesota Wild and Brady Skjei signed with the New York Rangers, and those two players gave weekly instructionals on how to get the puck out of the defensive zone.

Jake Bischoff, Michael Brodzinski, and Ryan Collins got some experience last year for the Gopher blue line, but none of them were relied on to get the job done shift after shift. Now Steve Johnson, Nick Seeler, and Jack Glover, who played forward for the majority of last season, are also playing regular shifts in the top six.

“For us the most important thing is getting up the rink efficiently and not choppy,” said Lucia. “It seems breaking out, in the neutral zone, regrouping… it’s been choppy and we’ve had little offensive zone time.”

Minnesota needs to find a way to generate speed coming up ice and that starts with a good first pass from their defensemen. The Gophers struggled against a 1-2-2 trapping forecheck against Vermont and then again when faced with an aggressive Bulldog forecheck. They’ll likely see something in-between against Northeastern, and making quick, crisp passes is a key coaching point for Minnesota.

Get Pucks to the Net

The Gophers have been outshot in each of their first three games this season, but it’s not for lack of shot attempts. For example, the Gophers had more shot attempts than Minnesota Duluth Saturday, except only 21 of their 64 attempts hit the net.

“When you miss, there is no second shot opportunity,” said Lucia. [We need to] create some chaos in offensive zone where guys have to chase down pucks and lose some of their defensive structure.”

Captain Justin Kloos thinks that maybe he and his teammates have put too much pressure on themselves, and forcing plays that aren’t there.

“It’s just moving the puck a little quicker, making a little quicker decisions, and relying on our teammates a little more,” said Kloos. “I think a few times, plays have been a little too individual and that’s slowed down the offense. Even when trying to get pucks back if everyone has to stop to watch to see what you’re doing, it kind of slows everything down.”

Expect to see Minnesota focus on generating second shot opportunities this weekend instead of missing the net. Seeler noted that the defensemen will also emphasize getting pucks on net when they can, getting pucks low, and getting pucks off the side boards when shot blockers take away shooting lanes.

(MHM Photo /Jeff Wegge)

Zone Time

The Gophers have averaged almost 23 shots a game this season, but they’ve lacked any sustained pressure. Whether it’s players missing the net or turning the puck over on zone entries, Minnesota has had too many one and done offensive opportunities.

Lucia said after the first weekend his team didn’t manage the puck well, didn’t support the puck well, and weren’t strong enough on their sticks. While he allowed it could be a strength issue for some of his freshman thrust into the lineup, the entire team’s wall play has to be better if they want to be successful.

“There’s a new formula this year and last year was obviously different–we had guys like [Kyle] Rau and [Travis] Boyd–guys to lean on and this year we just have got to get used to it and not put too much pressure on ourselves,” said Kloos. “We’ve been doing this a long time and everyday we just got to realize we’re pretty good at this game and we can rely on our skill, effort, and make some plays.”

While Rau has moved on to the Florida Panthers organization and Boyd to the Washington Capitals organization, the Gophers are looking for new players to take the lead. Lucia has noted the fourth line of A.J. Michaelson, Darian Romanko, and Tyler Sheehy do a nice job grinding in the offensive zone, but the coach will need his top nine forwards establishing a presence in the offensive zone to get more goal scoring.

Power Outage

Minnesota had one of the most prolific power plays in the country last season, but this season they’re still looking for their first power play goal through 12 opportunities. Last year Reilly quarterbacked the group to a 28% scoring clip. This year, a couple different players have gotten looks running the top unit without anyone taking the helm.

“They need reps at D, Bischoff, Johnson, Brodzinksi, get pucks through and make quick decisions,” said Lucia. “I think that’s the thing, at times we’ve been a little bit slow or you saw last weekend Connor [Reilly] is getting his timing back with his shot, he’s heeled a couple, Vinni [Lettieri] is all set up and he breaks his stick. But I think we have some guys who can make some plays on the power play, now they just need to continue to practice and get reps.”

Minnesota doesn’t appear to have a high scoring offense this season, so they will need to win a lot of 4-2, 3-2 games. Getting goals most nights on the man advantage will be crucial if they’re going to be successful. Breakouts and establishing a presence in the offensive zone hasn’t been a problem during the first two weekends, but moving around the puck quickly, decisively, and cleanly has been.

Looking Ahead

Lucia hasn’t had to worry too much about his goaltending so far this season despite the loss of three-year starter Adam Wilcox to the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. Eric Schierhorn has started three consecutive games and has made all the big saves and routine saves that the coaching staff expects of him. Lucia said earlier this season that he wanted to get one of the other goalies a chance sooner rather than later, but his team’s struggling offense and Schierhorn’s .915 save percentage might push that decision past their Friday/Saturday weekend series against Northeastern.

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